GENERAL PHILOSOPHY

By B. E. Smith

STOP THE INSANE & UNWINNABLE WAR ON DRUGS

My name is B E Smith and I'm running for Governor. You may remember that I spent two years in federal prison because the federal government did not agree that I could grow medical marijuana for myself and others under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 passed by the People of this State.

I believed the will of the sovereign People of the State of California was the law of my State. I still believe that, but the federal government says I was mistaken, and is prepared to put in prison those who disagree with their views on the law. I grew 87 medical marijuana plants for myself and a few patients who had medical recommendations from licensed physicians in California. The prosecutors and judges of the federal government said I was wrong, tried me before a jury, and would not even permit me to tell the jury that I had a medical recommendation from my doctor, that I was growing medicine for other sick Californians, or that California even had a law permitting me lawfully to grow medicine for other Californians.

Who would have believed that we would come to a place and time in the history of this great State when the voices of millions of Californians crying out for compassionate use of one of God's own plants by their sick and suffering family and friends would carry less weight than the dictates of a few bureaucrats 3,000 miles from here?

These few bureaucrats enforce a sick and failed drug policy. Listen to the inspired words of John L. Kane, United States Senior District Judge, given May 3, 2001, before the University of Denver Faculty Forum:

"Between 1981 and 1999 federal expenditures on prohibition and supply reduction activities jumped more than tenfold. No other government activity had similar or even comparable increases. Yet, there is no basis, none at all, to support this policy. . . .

"Who would believe," the Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman says, "that a democratic government would pursue for eight decades a failed policy that produced tens of millions of victims and trillions of dollars of illicit profits for drug dealers; cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars; increased crime and destroyed inner cities; fostered wide-spread corruption and violations of human rights - and all with no success in achieving the stated and unattainable objective of a drug-free America."

"Perhaps we should send a message to our children about the causes of death in the United States. We would have to tell them that tobacco is legal and the leading substance cause of death at 430,700 per year; that alcohol is legal and 110,600 die from it each year; that adverse reactions to legal prescription drugs cause 32,000 fatalities a year; that 30,500 commit suicide; 18,000 are homicide victims; that deaths from all drugs, legal and illicit, amount to 17,000 and that 7,600 people die each year from taking anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin. Of course, we don't want to send them the wrong message that the total number of deaths caused by marijuana is ZERO."

"Most of these prisoners are minorities. Indeed, we should tell our children that more African-Americans were imprisoned during the Clinton administration than in all the rest of United States history, but that might be sending our children the wrong message; they might somehow get the idea that drug law enforcement is racist. In both state and federal penal systems, America imprisons 100,000 more persons for drug offenses than the entire European Union imprisons for all offenses. The European Union has 100 million more citizens than the United States. There are 2 million people behind bars in the United States."

"More costly than money, however, is the price we now pay for this failed policy in terms of the decline in public safety, the breakdown of our criminal justice system, the erosion of our civil liberties and the pervasive public disrespect of the law. Good citizens, who are otherwise law-abiding, ignore or evade drug laws. With literally tens of millions of people using illegal drugs or related to those who do, an ever-increasing part of the population has become cynical about all laws and our legal system and political process in particular."

"Police agencies still need to protect the public by holding those who cause accidents or commit crimes while under the influence of drugs and alcohol fully accountable for their acts, but we must get them out of the business of financing their operations through the seizure and forfeiture of private property. The costs of law enforcement should be funded from the public fisc by legislators so that we can determine how much the implementation of government policies is costing. In other and harsher words, we need to terminate the symbiotic business relationship that law enforcement has with the illegal drug industry. Each scratches the other's back."

"One of the longest and most cherished traditions of this nation is that the military is subservient to the civilian government, and that military might shall never be engaged in domestic matters. It is the American version of the Rubicon. For as long as we have been free, we have disavowed the existence of a national police force. We have insisted that law enforcement is the business of local police agencies. Federal grants and financing of multi-level government task forces coupled with military assistance and the use of military intelligence in domestic matters seriously jeopardize local control of police action. The federal government is presently deeply involved in domestic drug law enforcement. This policy must change for no reason less important than the freedom of all individuals."

"There is an understandable temptation for state officials to shape their policies and programs to conform to federal grant requirements. What the Constitution prohibits the federal government from doing as an exercise of delegated power it does indirectly in numerous areas of endeavor, including the drug war, by placing conditions on federal grants. In many instances state governments have abdicated lawful control in the grab for federal funds."

Powerful words from a United States District Judge.

So, what will I do if elected Governor? I intend to use the pardon powers of the California Constitution and shall issue a pardon to all persons convicted of a victimless crime, such as growing, selling or using marijuana or similar substances, including those persons now serving prison terms for such convictions. Furthermore, I do not intend to see such victimless crimes prosecuted while I am Governor.

While I will see that real crimes are prosecuted vigorously, I will not spend the resources of Californians chasing phantom crimes, that is, innocent acts that the legislators make into crimes merely to show that they are "tough on crime," so they can get votes to keep themselves in office. I will free up millions of tax dollars from these phantom crimes to be spent on chasing real criminals, as well as providing better education for our children.

I will also seek voluntary rollback of the outrageous energy contracts my predecessors have saddled us with. I assure you, we will roll back these unconscionable contracts voluntarily, or I will have the courts help us roll back these shameful contracts. One way or the other, I will spearhead a drive to push back the enormous financial pressures that have put this State on the verge of financial ruin.

Will these measures be popular with the big boys in business or the legislature? No! Do I care? No! What I care about is the crushing costs borne by the average Californian for the financial mismanagement bordering on criminal recklessness which has squeezed money from the pockets of every Californian.

I must accomplish the People's will in an instant, because there will not be a second chance. Anybody who thinks a Californian like me, elected from among the common People, will survive politically to be elected to a second term of office is due for a lobotomy. The great business and political powers who lust for control of the enormous wealth and vitality of this State will organize like we've never seen before, and will vilify, castigate and crucify whoever puts the will of the People into action, so that these great powers and political forces may once more pluck and plunder the treasures of the golden State.

I have only two things going for me: (1) I have no reputation to maintain, except the reputation of one who is devoted to the Constitutions of California and the United States, embodying, as they do, the common rights of the People bought at the price of blood and treasure throughout the long course of history of this Nation, and (2) I owe no promises to any unseen business or political forces on this earth, except to you, the People of California.

Today, because of the monumental mismanagement of the State's affairs by Gray Davis and his predecessors, we face an opportunity never before experienced in any State of the Union: to elect a Governor from among the common People of this great State, an opportunity that we may never see again, at least not in the lifetimes of most of us.

I intend to use all the strength God has given me and all the powers vested in the Office of Governor by the People of this State, for the common good and welfare of the Citizens and residents of California.

As a symbol of my faith and loyalty to the common People, I intend to spend at least two nights each month in the home of some poor Californian with little or no political influence, or as a inmate in one of our prisons or jails, as a symbol of my care and concern for those most forgotten among our People. Most California prisoners will leave the prison system one day. I intend to do all I can to see that they are better people, more productive members of our society, and to the degree possible, rehabilitated for their own good, as well as for ours.

I spent 24 months among federal prisoners, and I can tell you from personal experience that, while there certainly are some beyond help, many, many of them are good and productive people who may have taken a wrong turn, but are no more beyond redemption than the prodigal son mentioned in a parable some 2,000 years ago.

I intend to hold regular town-hall meetings with the citizens and residents of this State, to listen to the cries and pleas of those who cannot afford to hire their own private lobbyists in Sacramento. Your concerns, your heartaches, your needs, your concerns will be on my heart and in my agenda always.

If you are a felon and not on parole, I urge you to register to vote, help others register, talk to your friends and relatives and put a man from among the common People in the Governor's chair for a season. Do it quickly, steadily and persistently, so that the big boys will never see us coming.

It is time for us to rise up and take back the reins of government from the big business and political interests who have despoiled our State. Let us rise up as a great People, and see Babylon the Great fall, in one hour, the hour when you, the common People of California take back the powers of government by the simple, but profound act of voting for one of your own to be Governor of California.

I will bear true faith and allegiance to you, the People, for all the days you choose to have me exercise the sacred powers entrusted by you in me as your Governor.

Constitutionally yours,

B E Smith

Star Route 65

Denny, California 95527

http://smartvoter.org/vote/BE_SMITH

besmith@snowcrest.net